Optimization of Carbon Black Production from Waste Polyethylene Water Sachet

Waste management has been one of the greatest of Nigeria. In this study production of carbon black was carried out by recycling of waste polyethylene water sachet. Optimization of carbon black production was also done by varying factors that affects its production using response surface methodology. Box Behnken design was used to generate a total 17 experimental runs, which were design to study the effects of reactor size, initial fuel volume and mesh size on the carbon black production. A quadratic regression model was obtained for the production of carbon black with highest yield of 0.84g at optimal condition reactor volume of 2500 cm3, mesh area of 0.01 cm2, and initial fuel volume of 0.01 liters. The prediction of the model was verified using optimal condition which was applied to three independent replicates and the average carbon black yield obtained was 0.80 g, which was well within the estimated value of the model equation. The result obtained could be scaled up to pilot production.